Chinese Doctor Admits She Sold Babies

A Chinese doctor has admitted in court that she stole babies from the hospital where she worked and sold them to human traffickers. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

(Newser)
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A Chinese doctor has admitted in court that she stole babies from the hospital where she worked and sold them to human traffickers, state media and a court said. Zhang Shuxia, a locally respected and soon-to-retire obstetrician, told parents their newborns had congenital problems and persuaded them to "sign and give the babies up," according to online postings from the court. The indictment said that from November 2011 to July 2013, she sold seven babies, including one set of twins, per the BBC, to middlemen who sold the babies to "couples" in central and eastern China.

Six of the babies were rescued, but one that was trafficked in April later died. Zhang was found out when a mother suspected her baby had been abducted and reported her to police in July. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that Zhang had taken the baby home with her and sold him to a man in a neighboring province for $3,600 the same night. He in turn resold the baby to a villager in central China for $9,900. The BBC reports the child was reunited with his family in August. Several other suspects have been detained in at least four provinces, Xinhua said. The Wall Street Journal reports, by way of local media, that Zhang faces the death penalty. (Read more human trafficking stories.)